We have done a lot of posts recently on core strength for stability. Here is one for standing and here is one for sitting! These are always somewhat ‘easier’ when a child is older and can easily follow directions. However if you read our last post, we talked about the need for stability with kids […]
Core Strength and New Walkers
When kids first learn to walk, they aren’t steady or confident in their motor skills and balance (not that they know this, but their bodies do) and they need ways to control all the joints. They will often lock out joints to control degrees of freedom so there are less things moving that they have […]
Core Stability vs Core Strength
I was recently on a hike with a friend and she asked why are people always saying the kids in her class need more core strength. To her, they seemed to be plenty strong, and then she listed all the activities they could do. When I asked what they had trouble with that led people […]
5 Ways to Make Tummy Time Successful
Sometimes I feel like Tummy Time has become the 4 letter word of parenting (similar to how I feel about w-sitting). Not only that, I feel like my friends who are new mom’s think I am the tummy time police! As soon as I see them they let me know how often they have been […]
Some Fun Ideas for Encouraging Activity
I was browsing through the newest Family Fun magazine and I have to say I was quite impressed with the items they had that encouraged kids and families to be active. Not only that, several of them also encouraged learning as well. I thought I would share some of the activities in case you would […]
Using the Ball vs the Platform Swing for Balance Reactions
As a therapist, we use the therapy ball a lot with our kids. It helps them to work on balance reactions and postural control as well as provides vestibular input in a variety of directions. The kids love it because usually we sing to them and bounce them and they may even forget they […]
Ideas for Helping Kids Develop Better Posture
Posture is always an interesting topic. As adults we are often trying to improve our posture because we have started discovering that poor posture can cause other problems like pain. These are things we don’t think of when we are younger and don’t always think about for our kids. Posture is something that can and […]
What Does Low Tone Mean?
Muscle tone is the resting state of your muscles. When a child has low muscle tone it means that they need to put a lot more energy into getting their muscles to turn on to do what they want them to do. I often try to explain this to parents by describing that feeling when […]
Tummy Time – Its a Ball!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7aHqPhpGwM&w=560&h=315] Ok, I am a big proponent of tummy time and I have discussed why I think its important in Tummy Time: The Cornerstone of Movement and Tummy Time: What’s the Big Deal. I have also provided suggestions for ways to incorporate this in Strategies for Tummy Time. I now have a new approach! […]